Little Men, Big Treasures Volume 1

By: J. Edwards Holt

Narrated by: Simon Maeder

O’balin, son of Blorn, is an eager young dwarf and a native to the mysterious Mountain Realm. Having been a treasure hunter for most of his life, O’balin is overjoyed when he hears that the king of the Mountain Realm is offering a vast reward to the one who finds The Lost Treasure of Undur, a long-lost treasure that has been missing for generations.

Despite warnings from his neurotic brother and others around his home, O’balin is unable to pass up such a grand opportunity and thus gathers a handful of his family and friends to accompany him on the journey of a lifetime. Along the way O’balin and his comrades experience grand adventures, incredible battles, fun and laughs, sacrifice, and even loss in the first to come in a series of epic tales by Author J. Edwards Holt.

©2017 J. Edwards Holt (P)2020 J. Edwards Holt

Enjoyable!

Was not sure what to expect for this genre of book. It was an enjoyable and fun listen. It wasn’t a rehash of other books of this type. I found it fresh and loved the characters and creatures. The narration was well done and the storyline good.

A Great Adventure

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Even though this is a short book it is definitely full of adventure! Dwarves, humans, centaurs, guardians, goblins, and royalty. Even though the odds are stacked against the Little Men they somehow find a way through to complete their adventure.
Simon does a great job narrating and brings great life to this book. I throughly enjoyed it.

Fun Start to Trilogy

A wonderful message tucked inside the fictional world of Mountain Realm created by the author. A great start to a series for youth or any age combining magical landscapes with hope-filled characters akin to young versions of characters from Lord of the Rings.

A captivating fantasy adventure

I really enjoyed listening to this book. Simon Maeder does an excellent job of giving each character their own voice, so it’s easy to follow along with the dialogue. The story itself has plenty of edge-of-your-seat moments, and a dynamic plot. I loved listening to the adventures of O’balin and company, and at times even found myself giggling at the situations they found themselves in. A wonderful fantasy adventure, listeners of many ages will enjoy this story from start to finish. A great way to spend an afternoon!

Centaurs improve any story

This is a fun little traditional fantasy adventure with big dreams, unexpected losses, and treasure! But some treasures cut both ways, right? Got to watch out for those hidden traps. While this tale falls back on traditional gender roles, I still enjoyed it for the most part. There’s only 2 ladies (mother Clara & a romantic interest). But the guys get up to all sorts of trouble so there’s enough action to keep my attention.

O’balin and his bookish older brother (Clann) plus a good friend (Bindle) head out on their quest for treasure. Shortly, they are joined by O’balin’s dad (Blorn), so it’s starting to look like a great bonding trip for this little family. They merrily wave goodbye to Mountainside Village with no clue as to all the trouble they are about to get into.

There’s centaurs! Yay! Any story is improved by adding centaurs, in my humble opinion. While this tale has that Tolkien feel to it, it’s much faster paced and suitable for kids. There’s no swearing, no sex, and no gore. Since there is a war going on later in the book, there is some violence but much of the fighting happens off stage. Over all, it’s cute even if a bit predictable. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Simon Maeder has a very pleasant voice for this story, with plenty of unique voices for the various characters. His female voices were fine for this story tho they don’t get showcased much as there are just 2 ladies and they have very few lines. Maeder’s cadence was a little odd to me, having slight pauses in strange locations of sentences. Nothing like Shatner but it did occasionally through me out of the story. That said, there’s no technical issues with this recording. 4/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by J. Edwards Holt. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Entertainment for any age!

I love Holt’s style of writing. This is actually my second book by him after reading Barrenworld. I think I was supposed to read this series first but either way they’re amazing books! Simon kills it in this one, love it!

Short & Fresh High Fantasy Adventure

How did this book only have two reviews on Goodreads before I got here? This was such a fun little adventure to read! Reading the synopsis I thought it had the potential to be just another brief LotR rehash with a touch of humour thrown in, but I'm pleased to say I was wrong. This story is entirely its own story, unique and stuffed with the full range of emotions to go along with a well fleshed out coming-of-age adventure plotline. I loved Holt's short story collection, The Storyteller's Diary, so I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise that this novella is just as well done and unique.

If you're a fan of classic high fantasy and want something short and fresh, you'll love O'balin's adventure here in Little Men, Big Treasures. I can't wait to continue my listen through the series!

I was granted complimentary access to Little Men, Big Treasures at Audible as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Audiobookworm Promotions. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Entertaining

This was a fun read. The narration was well done with good differentiations but did have a choppy feel at times. The story itself was a touch jumpy but I guess that’s how things go with multiple storylines sometimes.

If this were a movie it would be between PG and PG13 depending on how much gore the director chose to show. Next to no fowl language (no Fbombs) and nothing in the way of intimate scenes or relationships.

If you enjoy books of treasure hunting and dire straights, give Little Men, Big Treasures a shot!


—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Really cool cast of characters!

Very inspiring. It’s nice to see writers with such a solid grasp of plot progression. All was handled wonderfully!

Perfect for my son!

My son is in 8th grade and I’ve been having a really hard time getting him to read - even audiobooks. But this one, he loved! We will be getting book 2 and 3 very soon.